Crisis Statement

Local governments not aware of the central government policies, circulars, transfers, guidelines, programs related to sanitation

Needs Statement

Develop a system to inform & gain feedback from local governments on central government initiatives. Most local governments do not have access to the internet but do have high access to simple mobile phones. We need to develop a system to graph / map local government responses to specific multiple choice questions via SMS. Additional resources needed: mobile phone numbers of local government chairs & members, BTRC registered SMS short code, GIS files of UPs & pourashavas.

Short Description

Local governments are not aware of sanitation policies.

Author: Samhir Vasdev, US

Hackathon site: Dhaka

Location: Bangladesh

Brainstorming session, 27 September 2012, New Delhi
In his opening remarks at the session in Delhi, Dr. Rajendra Kumar, Joint Secretary, Department of Information Communications and Technology, Government of India, said that technology-based interventions were improving the lives of people. Kumar reiterated the fact that as mobile connections are the rule of the day rather than the exception it was the most relevant platform and the Sanitation Hackathon was an important initiative towards mainstreaming technology-based interventions. As a representative of the government of India he was optimistic that this sanitation initiative would result in an effective roadmap for improving service delivery through mobile applications for all government departments.

Given the increasing emphasis in India that the practice of open-defecation is unacceptable, it is heartening to note that there is a strong sense of ownership by the Government of India to end this practice, said Juan Costain, Regional Team Leader for WSP in South Asia, while addressing the gathering. Costain applauded the 2011 Water Hackathon as a globally successful event. He emphasized that everyone involved was looking forward to making the SanHack an even better and more successful event in all aspects.

Before leaving the floor open for further discussions Ravikumar Joseph, WSP, shared the details of the upcoming SanHack to be held in Pune on the 1st  and 2nd of Dec 2012. The event partners for are IIHS & Infosys along with support from Department of Information and Technology; Ministry of Water Supply and Sanitation; Ministry of Women and Child Development; Ministry of Health and Urban Development; Kfw; UNICEF; ADB and JICA. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation are providing support to the overall event.

To start the brainstorming session the floor was divided into groups and the participants come up with a list of sanitation problems and challenges they considered important. One of the interesting issues debated and discussed was regarding the monitoring of toilet usage. Although Govt. programs fund construction of the toilets, the sustainability or use of the toilets is a cause for concern. The govt of India as we know is very keen to be able to monitor, track and promote behavior change leading to sustainable outcomes. The solution to this problem was envisaged as an application “App” that can record household toilet (photograph with GPS coordinates) and other information (number of adults – male / female; children – male / female and age; when was the toilet constructed and source of funds, etc) can be captured and a database created. The use of the toilet can then be monitored (through a sensor on the squatting stones) that records people as and when they squat to defecate. Comparing the data captured from the households (time, number of times that the sensor has been activated and the number of individuals in the household) and comparing it with data base (with data on typical usage patterns for households with number and mix of adults and children) one would be able to monitor usage. Additionally the app could also monitor household disease (esp. diarrhea) and hopefully there would be a decrease in household disease with the usage of toilet by all. The intended audience of such an App is the govt who can then monitor the construction and use of toilets in rural areas.

Brainstorming session, 12 October 2012, Pune
Vivek Raman from WSP began the session in Pune saying that with the ever-increasing mobile penetration and falling prices of smart phones, IT applications provide a cheaper and more powerful platform and an opportunity to solve problems in the developing world stated. His presentation included a description of the successful 2011 Water Hackathon, where new ideas and solutions were developed by people outside of the sector. At the Water Hackathon, out of the 113 problems that were defined, 50 solutions were created and more than 60% of the solutions created are in various stages of deployment in projects. The Sanitation Hackathon, he said, along with its predecessor Water Hackathon, is the beginning of a movement of problem solvers – with unusual partners collaborating to overcome a massive development challenge

Presentations at the Pune brainstorming meet were also made by Pratima Joshi, Director of Shelter Associates and Utkarsha Kavadi, Researcher from CEPT University. Both showcased projects underway in Pune that are using ICT tools to better engage with citizens and disseminate information.

Participants presented a host of issues and possible solutions for the technologists to use at the forthcoming Hackathon in Dec 2012. In the hour-long vibrant proceedings, one interesting discussion dealt with increased urbanization and migration to cities: Migrating populations from rural India tend to resort to open-defecation. Lack of adequate toilet facilities was highlighted as a concern but so were the behavior patterns. The idea mooted was that citizens who wish to report cases of open-defecation would contact via SMS to the ward offices of their urban local body with location details and the number of such occurrences. Repeated messages from a neighborhood not only calls for immediate action by the authorities but can be shared with local newspapers/radio stations to invite public attention.. The solution needs a working link between NGO’s in the city, municipal staff, local newspapers, radio operators, mobile phones, data transfer mode. The team looks forward to the hackers coming up with their ICT solutions. Overall there was agreement that the sanitation challenge is deadly and massive. Although there are significant financing gaps that need filling, many of the barriers to sanitation access have less to do with finances, and more to do with behaviors of citizens, their governments, and their service providers.

Also go http://www.sanitationhackathon.org/pune and https://www.facebook.com/sanitationhackathonindia

Tonight they hold their annual Big Ideas event, which is a multi-disciplinary gathering of the minds.  Over 300 thinkers, creators and students from the different departments across campus will kick off with some big ideas and then break out into jam sessions to dive deeper.  This evening, I will be stepping up to the plate and discussing the power of collaboration, partnerships and alliances as a means to generating powerful solutions to the biggest problem of all, the lack of sanitation for 2.5 billion people.

Looking forward to the breakout session and generating some fresh ideas.

If half of the hospital beds in the developing world are accommodating patients of sanitation-related diseases then just think about what would happen if that portion of the patients were not there: at the country level we will see higher productivity, healthy and thriving communities,  less government spending on medical expenses related to preventable diseases and more attention to those suffering from chronic illness. Improved sanitation–toilets, hygiene, and education to support their use– means less illness and death and possible stimulus for the economy, but it means much more. It means that children are no longer afraid to go to school because of what may happen if they need to defecate,  that women and young girls especially have somewhere to go where they don’t feel like their natural bodily functions are stealing their dignity or putting them at risk. This is a serious issue and we at Toilet Hackers are committed to taking on this battle.

Nearly half of the world does not have access to a toilet, so if shit is not going into a toilet where is it going? Pretty much anywhere else. And this means that people are living, playing and eating in its midst and are risking their lives in the process. The U.N has declared sanitation and clean water a human right. Just as all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights, having a safe place to “go,” (literally) is a human right as well.  If the worst of all possible scenarios can be made better by giving the 40% of the world who don’t have toilets a place for their waste, then we’d better get cracking. No individual, no matter how well resourced, no organization, no matter how widely distributed, can take on this goal alone. Sanitation for all is a goal we can get to, but only if we work together, which is why we need your help! We’re calling on you as volunteers, as hackers, as designers, engineers, artists, scientists, business minds and fundraisers to get this goal on track. Let’s get it done for everyone.